Celebrating a diverse collection of car lovers’ dreams
The 11th annual Dayton Concours d’Elegance at Carillon Park will likely be the most diverse collection of cars and motorcycles ever assembled for this event.
While the Concours celebrates the 50th anniversary of the iconic Chevrolet pony car, the Camaro, there will also be a featured class called the Evolution of the MG.
“Visitors to the 11th annual Dayton Concours will be greeted by a field of 30 classic MG sports cars,” said Concours Director Mike Edgerton. “In addition the ‘Vehicles of Special Interest’ class will have the locally owned, famous, slammed smoothie Camaro that has been featured in national publications.”
The class that is also creating quite a buzz is “The Cars of Orville Wright.” The brainchild of Edgerton and Alex Heckman of Dayton History, it celebrates the many cars Wright owned over the years.
“We were fortunate to be able to locate and secure a few of the cars like Orville Wright owned, including his first car, a 1904 St. Louis,” Edgerton said.
There will also be a Dayton-built 1910 Speedwell, like the one Wright bought while the Wright Airplane Co. rented space in the Speedwell factory. Other vehicles also confirmed include a 1932 Pierce Arrow and a 1934 Essex Terraplane, both similar to models Wright drove. Wright’s license plate, by the way, was OW-1.
“Electric cars are in the news and we will have a 1919 Detroit, one of the first electric cars,” Edgerton added.
Among the 200 invited cars and motorcycles being shown will be these rare autos: 1910 Hupmobile, 1916 Overland, 1920 Cleveland, 1923 Willys-Knight, 1930 Packard Boattail Speedster, 1947 Citroen Traction Avant, 1952 Allard J2X and a 1999 Panoz Esperante.
“Plan your day so you will have time to visit the automotive fine art pavilion, the model car Concours, ‘Race Cars of the Miami Valley’ display and all the Carillon Park historical exhibits,” Edgerton advised. “If you are at the Concours around noon and weather permitting, you will see the Wright ‘B’ Flyer buzz the show field and tip a wing in honor of the Wright brothers.”
At about 12:30 p.m., Indianapolis Motor Speedway historian Donald Davidson will be holding court and answering questions from the public in the Miami Valley racecar display area. Joining Davidson will be Troy’s Jack Hewitt, who won 46 USAC sprint car races, 23 USAC Silver Crown events, multiple USAC championships and was the oldest rookie to race in the Indy 500 at age 46.
Nine-time Indy 500 driver Tom Bigelow, who lives in Winchester, Indiana, will also be on hand to answer questions about racing.
The Concours cars and motorcycles will be judged for awards in 28 classes. In addition, a number of specialty awards will be presented, including the R.H. Grant Best of Show, Col. Edward Deeds Judge’s Choice, Charles F. Kettering People’s Choice, Jeffrey Siler Spirit Award, The Taj Ma Garaj Award and The Hagerty Youth Judging Award.
For the second year, there will be a reunion of Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild modelers exhibiting their hand-built models that embrace automotive-vehicle design creativity. The parade of class-winning cars, motorcycles and major award winners will be presented at 3 p.m.
The Concours weekend will kick off Saturday morning with a special edition of Dayton Cars & Coffee in the parking lot by Carillon Brewing Co., which is open to all cars. Saturday evening will bring “The Wright Place to Be” Preview Party, open to the public, on the grounds of the Carillon Historical Park. The party will preview some of the Concours automobiles and feature an automotive art pavilion, music, silent auction, food and beverage. The dressy casual event will be held from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $85 per person, $75 for Dayton History members, and reservations are required.
Sunday’s Concours general admission is $20 at the door, or $15 in advance, $5 for children 17-3; children under 3 and members of Dayton History are free.
For more information regarding the Concours, go online to www.daytonconcours.com or call 937-2932841.